Sunday, October 31, 2010

To "laws" and "sausages," now add "securitized debt," circa 2004-2008.

It turns out that Wall Street's financial sausage factory was even more toxic and laxly run than previously thought.

The latest chapter is apparently a breakdown in the very essence of what makes a securitized mortgage, securitized: the link between the mortgage, and the property securing it.

Due to sloppy or non-existent documentation, investors in such paper may not have rights to the collateral -- millions of homes -- after all; if that's correct, "fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night," as Bette Davis might put it.

Financial e.coli Outbreak

As the daily headlines (continue to) make clear, the financial e.coli outbreak traceable to Wall Street has sickened not just the U.S. economy, but a good portion of the world economy.

If a real sausage factory caused 1/1,000 of the harm, it would be shut down, fined into oblivion, and its operators jailed.

Much the same fate would befall the government inspectors responsible for overseeing the factory; the private company that put its Good Housekeeping seal of approval on the factory's output; and any other actors associated with the shameful enterprise.

How shameful?

Imagine the uproar if a corrupt food inspector -- charged with abetting food poisoning -- defended itself by claiming that its bogus ratings were "protected free speech," as the credit ratings agencies are now risibly arguing.

Calling Upton Sinclair

So, what's happened to Wall Street and its enablers, post-crash?

And exactly what is their defense to the foregoing?

In the hope that doing so would somehow revive the economy Wall Street wrecked, the Federal Reserve and Congress have actually showered Wall Street with more money since 2008 (courtesy of quantitative easing and TARP, respectively).

Meanwhile, Wall Street has escaped responsibility of any sort by arguing -- try to keep this straight -- that: a) the financial sausages it sold were not tainted with e.coli; but b) if they were, it was because investors wanted tobuy tainted sausages; and c) should have known the sausages were tainted; because d) Wall Street told them they were.

1 comment:

Good post. During this election season, the anger and frustration with "The Government" is palpable. Our elected officials have not done their jobs well, but at some point people are going to have to realize that "the Government" that they're so angry with, is their only hope of holding "the charlatans and crooks" accountable. Unfortunately, guess who's supplying the money to fund the campaigns? Yes, the charlatans and crooks.

About Ross Kaplan

Ross Kaplan, 50 years old, is a realtor in Edina Realty's City Lakes (Minneapolis) office. He is also a former attorney (corporate law) and CPA, and holds an economics degree from Stanford. Ross is a three-time "Super Realtor," named by Mpls.-St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine, and is a repeat member of Edina Realty's "Leadership Circle," awarded to the company's top 5% in sales volume. He served two terms on the local Board of Realtors' Professional Standard Board, which adjudicates ethics complaints and other industry issues. Ross' real estate practice focuses on Minneapolis and the West suburbs. He lives in Minneapolis' Sunset Gables neighborhood with his wife and three kids.
Ross' Journalism credentials: trivia question . . what do Ross and (NY Times columnist) Thomas L. Friedman have in common? They both were editors of the St. Louis Park high school newspaper, the Echo (Ross in '78, Thomas Friedman in '71). Ross' frequent articles and op-ed pieces have appeared in The New York Times, Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul City Business, RealClearMarkets.com, and numerous other publications -- online and off!